Unfiltered Story #360751
(At the time of this story I am sixteen. When I was twelve my dad’s car was hit by another car and I suffered trauma to my brain which left me with little hearing. My close family learnt sign language as even though I can hear a bit and speak almost normally, I struggle sometimes. I go to a small school with my twin sister and we often sit together in lessons. She will sometimes translate for me, as I am not at a level where I require an interpreter. Today we have a middle-aged substitute teacher, so we check that he knows, just in case the school hasn’t told him. He confirms they have. My sister occasionally signs through part of the lesson that is harder for me to hear, between writing notes.)
Teacher: “[Sister]! Why are you doing hand signals in my lesson?”
Sister: “For [My Name].”
Teacher: “Ah yes. I apologise.”
(No more than five minutes later, this happens again, my sister patiently explaining. Then about twenty minutes later:)
Teacher: “[Sister]! This is the THIRD time! I warned you before! Stop or you’re going out of the room, and I’m sure a detention as well!”
Sister: “For the love of GOD! I. AM. SIGNING. FOR. MY. SISTER. WHO. IS. DEAF. Now please get on with the lesson; some of us have exams to pass!”
Teacher: “Don’t talk back to me! How was I supposed to know she’s deaf?! And anyway, you aren’t constantly signing for her! Only when my back is turned!”
Sister: “I have explained three times now. I have to sign for her because she suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was twelve and lost hearing. Although she can hear a bit, she can’t hear quite so well when you are facing away from us. You were briefed by the heads of school, you told us that when we came to you to explain not more than half an hour ago. It is agreed that I am allowed to interpret a few words for her every so often.”
Teacher: “Hey, [My Name]! If you have a brain injury, shouldn’t you be in a spastic school?!”
Classmate #1: Don’t you dare say that to [My Name]! Anyway, [Sister] is in the right! She’s been signing for four years!”
Teacher: “HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME! I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU!”
(Classmate #1, who I know has a little sister with cerebral palsy, leaves the room to fetch our head of year, who has an office almost next door to the lecture room we are in.)
Teacher: “I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO LEAVE!”
(The teacher continues to berate my sister. My classmate returns a minute later, head of year in tow.)
Teacher: “Ah, [Head Of Year]. This young man just shouted at me and left my lesson without my permission. Thank you for returning him.”
Head of Year: “What’s this I hear about you verbally abusing [My Name and Sister]?”
Teacher: “I did no such thing! SHE was doing strange hand signals to HER and I asked why. They both then started yelling at me!”
Classmate #2: “When you yelled for the third time, I started recording!”
(The teacher turns pale, and the footage is shown. It picks up from “… or you’re going out of the room”. The head of year escorted the teacher to the office and later we hear he was banned from teaching at our school and now a lot of schools won’t hire him as a substitute. I’ve also now been dating the classmate who stood up for us for two years.)
